We have two Radians. We have an Ody.
Honestly we love them. DH installs them and is always able to a good install.

We dont weigh or measure the kids much (so take it for what it is).
DS will be 3 in Feb. His stats from Aug: 38 1/2 inches and 32 lbs. So hes skinny but super tall. I'm glad we have the Radian for the height. We are thinking we'll have to turn him soon. He only has a few inches till he rests the top of the shell.
DD is 17 months and I have no idea on her stats right now. She loves to hang her legs over the side of the seat when shes napping.

- The profile is low. Something I hate about the MyRide (one of our spare seats). I seriously hate how high the sides are on that thing.
- Its a beast. The Radians are heavy... Its a fact but we dont move them much so its not a deal breaker for us.
- We have a van so the front to back space isnt a big deal but it does take up some space.
- Since DS is tall I really like knowing he has had a tall seat to grow into.

If you go with a Britax make sure you let it air out in the garage or something for a few days. Its the worst seat for off gassing. I'm mobile so its a PITA to search for anything but there was a list of seats that were the worst off gasers a couple years ago and they were at the top.

Amanda . Blaming my phone for typos and crap.

I did read about the gassing thing recently so good advice. I know that wouldn't keep us from getting them since they don't spend much time in the car but we would definitely do that.

I have never installed a Radian but recently our neighbor(7yo) came with us to a class. I installed his Marathon FF in our van and it was literally THE easiest install I have EVER done. His mom installed it and I was not comfortable so I re-installed. I was 6mo pregnant and it was the fastest install and rock solid. I am seriously considering one for my squish because as much as I love Poppy's TrueFit I would really like the extra RFing weight because our kids are not usually this tiny.

I have never installed a Radian but recently our neighbor(7yo) came with us to a class. I installed his Marathon FF in our van and it was literally THE easiest install I have EVER done. His mom installed it and I was not comfortable so I re-installed. I was 6mo pregnant and it was the fastest install and rock solid. I am seriously considering one for my squish because as much as I love Poppy's TrueFit I would really like the extra RFing weight because our kids are not usually this tiny.

See now I have yet to install a true fit. I would like to. They certainly are among the favorites here.

I have a Marathon 70. DS is 16mths old, 31" and 23lbs. He has loads of room left for rearfacing and he has a slightly longer torso than legs. My DD is very tall and made it to just past 2.5 rearfacing in it. It's very easy to install and the harness adjuster is like butter. My biggest complaint with the Radian is the harness adjuster. It's awful. It ratchets, but gets to a point where it just won't tighten anymore. The Marathon 70 cover is easy to wash and comes out nicely.
As for the off gassing thing, it's really not an issue unless your kid is living in the seat or eating it or something. You can just wash the seat cover, but you actually want the fire retardant chemicals on the cover in case of a car fire. Overall, I LOVE the MA70 and would absolutely buy it again. I paid about $210 for mine and it was totally worth it.

I have a Marathon 70. DS is 16mths old, 31" and 23lbs. He has loads of room left for rearfacing and he has a slightly longer torso than legs. My DD is very tall and made it to just past 2.5 rearfacing in it. It's very easy to install and the harness adjuster is like butter. My biggest complaint with the Radian is the harness adjuster. It's awful. It ratchets, but gets to a point where it just won't tighten anymore. The Marathon 70 cover is easy to wash and comes out nicely.
As for the off gassing thing, it's really not an issue unless your kid is living in the seat or eating it or something. You can just wash the seat cover, but you actually want the fire retardant chemicals on the cover in case of a car fire. Overall, I LOVE the MA70 and would absolutely buy it again. I paid about $210 for mine and it was totally worth it.

My DD is 19 months and RF in all of her seats. We have 3, one in my car, her dad's car, and my parents, who watch her when I'm at work.

My car is a 2000 (?) Lexus IS300. DD rides in the True Fit. I like it because it is compact. She hasn't hit 22 pounds yet, so no headrest which is nice. The seatbelt install was relatively easy. There's no latch in my car. For some reason I could not get it in the center, so it is outboard. I had to twist the belt stalk to get the seat belt in the lock offs, but it's solid now. My parents didn't like continuous harness, but I really do.

In my parents car DD is in a Roundabout. She's in the center, seatbelt install. I tried latch outboard and couldn't get it tight enough for some reason. The seatbelt install was so easy though! Oh, and they drive a big Lexus SUV. I don't know the model. It's a 2003 I think

And finally! In her dad's car she's in a Safety First Guide. Seatbelt install, outboard in a 2008 Nissan Rogue. It did require a rolled towel. I really like how compact this seat is. It's a great buy, and I found it much easier to install than the Scenara (MIL who is out of state has one for her). It also seems more comfortable as far as padding.

I don't really use the Guide with her since it's in her dad's car. But between the Roundabout and True Fit, I don't know that I have a favorite. I like them each for different reasons. She seems more comfortable sleeping in the Britax because the TF is so wide and her head slumps horribly. But I love the removable headrest on the TF. They're both great seats, honestly!

__________________
Single mama to my sweet D. Taking life one day at a time.

I have a Britax blvd and I love it. I was going to get the Marathon but got the blvd because it was on special with a free travel cart thing which I needed for flying anyways.

I love the continuous harness. It was great for when I occasionally took my 3 year old niece to preschool. I feel like the harness is easy to buckle and adjust from both sides. Very smooth.

It was also really easy to flip around and do a ff seat belt install for my 5 year old niece. I could do any install for any size kid in less than 3 min with confidence.(I just used a seatbelt cause it was faster than Latch)

I love the latch. My sister has some other branded car seats and I can't ever get them snug. No matter how long I try or how much weight I throw into it. (I am 5.7 160 and used to work on construction) I like having the tightening ability from both sides rather than all on one side.

I love Chico keyfits 30s for infants & Sunshine Radians after that. We had keyfits in an F-250 & Chrysler town & country. We used to have Radians in our f-250 & Town & Country, now the radians are in our F-250 & Prius. We have had Britax Boulevards in our F-250 but I didn't like them.

We've almost never switched seats from vehicle to vehicle & always keep seats installed in our 2 primary vehicles (except for once a year when we travel to visit my family put seats in their cars). We only tried the boulevards because they were cheaper than the nice Radians & just going in the vehicle we used less frequently. We used the britax RF for a couple months & had to toss them. We didn't want to drive our truck because we felt the radians installed in our van were safer. We actually debated driving both vehicles out to our horses so we could haul hay in the truck but have our LOs in the safer sets in our van - that debate sealed the deal about needing another set of new seats. The Britax were not as solidly built , secure, or trim fitting as our Radians. We've installed the radians in 3 of our vehicles (f-250, T&C, Prius), ODDs car (Altima), & tried them in my sister & mom's vehicles (cougar, Durango, Tahoe, & dodge truck) and in every vehicle we were able to insure there was NO wiggle room. Britax does have more colors/prints than radian - but that shouldn't matter, it's just the only positive I can I give them. We've used the Radians RF & FF, we only used our chico infant seats RF. My girls are now 3.75 yrs old, & just over 35 lbs each. I don't recall their weight when we tried the boulevards but they were probably 20-25 lbs then.

Last edited by raymark; 12-08-2012 at 11:24 PM.
Reason: I like to misspell :)

The convertibles we own/owned are a radian XTSL, complete air 65, and britax blvd (old style).

DS is a big kid (41" and 40 lbs at just over 3), so that weighs heavily on what we love.

The blvd was so so easy to install and tighten the harness, but the leg room stunk. DS started to look cramped in that seat by about 10 months, and got too close for comfort to the weight limit very young. We sold it.

I really *like* our radian, but I wouldn't say love. It has great leg room. It installs great in our corolla without an angle adjuster, and in our Prius with an angle adjuster. I like that it can be installed RFing as upright as you can get it. I like the high weight and height limits. We use it for travel and I like the backpack option. Two things keep it from getting *love*: the lack of continuous harness (although admittedly this hasn't been a huge issue) and the harness adjuster (it is sometimes a pain to get tight).

FWIW, the only seat I'd say I loved was DS's keyfit.

Also, I don't like the complete air for RFing very much at all, but I think it's a great FFing seat.

ETA: the width of the radian is also a bonus. But another negative is that the RFing boot has to be attached (it doesn't just push in like for the CA) and that the AA is necessary for install in some cars (eg, a Prius).

The AA is not necessary for radians in the 2012 Prius, don't know about other years.